Deadlines for HR & Graduate Fellow Actions with the Upcoming Holidays

Winter recess is quickly approaching, and we all look forward to the one time each year when we can all disconnect from work and enjoy the things that bring us joy. In that spirit, we wanted to communicate some important dates and deadlines with you to ensure sufficient time to review and process requests before the recess.  

Job Postings and Re-postings

From Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day, we consistently see a reduction in applicant activity of around 35%. The change in applicant activity is even more dramatic between December 25^th and January 1^st, with a reduction in applicants per week of 66%.

Based on this consistent trend, we recommend that departments wait until the week of January 2, 2024, to post open positions. If there is a critical need to post the position immediately, we recommend posting no later than December 4^th and concluding no later than December 22^nd (the last day before the recess close date). Departments can opt to have the position open longer than that; however, the HR office will be closed during the winter recess. This means notifications for new applicants will not be received or sent out until the week of January 2^nd. 

Deadlines for Positions

• All position updates for December must be received by HR no later than Noon Central on November 21^st.  
• If you have a position you want to set to post on January 2^nd, our first day back after winter recess, the position updates must be received by Noon Central on December 13^th.
• If you have an exceptional situation, please contact your talent acquisition specialist to make alternative arrangements.

Deadlines for Job Offers

• Requests for job offers are due in HR no later than five business days before the desired start date.  For example, if the start date is December 1^st, the request for a job offer is due in HR no later than November 22^nd.  
• For start dates of December 18, 2023 - January 8, 2024, hiring proposals are due in HR no later than 3:00 pm on December 15^th. 
  • Please note, if the start date is January 1, 2024, the employee must be able to complete sections 1 and 2 of the Form I-9 by December 20^th to ensure there is sufficient time to complete benefits enrollment for the January 1^st effective date.

Deadlines for Temporary Hires, Extensions, and Reappointments

• Direct hires for temporary staff positions must be submitted by the payroll deadlines.
• For start dates of December 18, 2023 - January 8, 2024, pending worker records for new hires must be submitted to HR no later than 3:00 pm on December 15^th. 
  • Please note, if the start date is January 1, 2024, the employee must be able to complete sections 1 and 2 of the Form I-9 by December 20^th  to ensure there is sufficient time to complete benefits enrollment for the January 1^st effective date.
• Temporary assignments, reappointments, or extensions that exceed 6 months in total should be submitted as term-limited, budgeted positions and not as temporary positions. 

Deadlines for Job Description Updates and other HCM transactions: 

• Updated position profiles for promotions and reclassifications with effective dates between January 1, 2024 – January 15, 2024, are due in HR no later than December 12, 2023.
• HCM transaction deadlines are as follows: 
  • BW-25 (pay date 12/08/2023) ⇒ due in HR 11/19/2023
  • SM-23 (pay date 12/15/2023) ⇒ due in HR 12/01/2023
  • BW-26 (pay date 12/22/2023) ⇒ due in HR 12/03/2023
  • SM-24 (pay date 12/29/2023) ⇒ due in HR 12/08/2023
  • BW-01 (pay date 01/05/2024) ⇒ due in HR 12/17/2023
  • SM-01 (pay date 01/15/2024) ⇒ due in HR 01/02/2024 

If you have any questions, please reach out to one of our teams: 

• Compensation (compensation@rice.edu) for questions about creating or updating position profiles, promotions, and reclassifications.
• HR Service Center (people@rice.edu) for questions related to temporary hires, student employment, assignment changes, pending worker records, and I-9s.
• Talent Acquisition (jobs@rice.edu) for questions related to staff job requisitions and job offers.

Deadline for Graduate Fellow New Assignments and Changes to Existing Assignments

New graduate fellow assignments should be submitted by Friday, December 15, 2023, to give adequate time for students to onboard and be paid on time for the first pay period of the Spring 2023 semester. 

Changes to existing assignments should also be submitted by Friday, December 15, 2023. Changes include:

• Updating funding
• Updating payment amounts
• Extending payments
• Termination

Assignment changes can be submitted to Jeff Yeung by email (jay2264@rice.edu), through an assignment change in iO, or by uploading to your department’s graduate fellow reporting folder and informing Jeff that forms are available to process.

Thank you for your partnership and have a wonderful holiday season!